Description
Book SynopsisFocuses on the questions of how Berlin deals with three specific Cold War era legacies the presence of the four Great Powers, the East German Stasi, and the Berlin Wall. This book studies monuments, museums, and memorial sites as illustrations of Berlin's struggle to craft a shared identity that tie together its western and eastern halves.
Trade ReviewEach topic is very thoroughly documented, weaving together historical information and current political debates surrounding memorial sites....Highly valuable as a chronicle of the politics of memory....Recommended. Two-star review. * CHOICE, March 2009 *
Dirk Verheyen has written a fascinating, exhaustive analysis of the evolving and conflicting memories of the Cold War memorialized by the most controversial monuments and museums in Berlin. He is at his best in his demonstration of the ongoing controversies. -- Robert Billinger, Wingate University * Reviews *
Verheyen's book is a useful and welcome history of reunified Germany's troubled capital over the last two decades. * American Historical Review, October 2009 *
Anyone who has been in Berlin over the past decade will recognize the diverse and frequently contradictory emotions that politicians, intellectuals, architects, and pundits have evoked in their efforts to bring the city together again. Dirk Verheyen has written a thoughtful and perceptive book that captures the complexity of these endeavors and that is always sensitive to the challenges all human beings face in wrestling with historical memory. This study will be of interest not only to those who are fascinated with Berlin, but also to anyone who seeks to make sense of the multiple, overlapping histories that continue to challenge Germany as a whole. -- A. James McAdams, director, Nanovic Institute for European Studies, University of Notre Dame
Table of ContentsChapter 1 A City and a Nation Between Memory and Future Chapter 2 Capturing Memory and Crafting Identity Part 3 Victors and Adversaries: The Legacy of the Great Powers Chapter 4 Occupation, Confrontation, Departure: the Great Powers in Postwar Berlin Chapter 5 Soviet Traces Chapter 6 The Western Allies: A Vanishing Legacy? Chapter 7 Great Powers on Display: A Brief Tale of Two Museums Part 8 Beyond Files and Trials: Public Remembrance and the Legacy of the Stasi Chapter 9 Bureaucratic Shield and Repressive Sword: Rise and Demise of the Stasi Chapter 10 Tyrannical Banality on Display: the "Stasi Museum" Chapter 11 The Commemoration of Persecution in Hohenschönhausen Chapter 12 Coming to Terms with the "Second" German Dictatorship Part 13 The Berlin Wall: Meaning and Memory Chapter 14 Monumental Schizophrenia: The Berlin Wall and Concrete Closure Chapter 15 Commemorating a Vanishing Monument Chapter 16 Checkpoint and Watchtower Museums Chapter 17 Painting and Tracing the Wall
